Supporting the safe containment of polioviruses

WHO works with countries to minimize the risk of new outbreaks of poliomyelitis (polio). This includes minimizing the risk of polioviruses being released into the environment or communities from laboratories, vaccine production facilities, or other facilities that handle or store polioviruses.

Thanks to global vaccination efforts that have been ongoing since the first polio vaccines were developed in the 1950s, polio has become a very rare disease that is endemic in only 2 remaining countries: Afghanistan and Pakistan. All other countries have been declared polio-free.

Until polio is not spreading anywhere it remains a threat everywhere, because the risk of virus importation into polio-free areas and further transmission cannot be completely excluded. For this reason, vaccination and disease surveillance efforts must continue in all countries. It is also vital that polioviruses stored for research and vaccine manufacturing purposes are safely contained in certified polio-essential facilities (PEFs).

WHO/Europe supports countries to identify where polioviruses are held and to destroy or safely store them. As part of this work, all 53 countries in the WHO European Region conducted national inventories of facilities that handle or store polioviruses. Extensive training activities are also conducted in many countries to strengthen capacities in biorisk management and empower national polio containment coordinators in each country.

To minimize poliovirus-containment-associated risk, WHO/Europe is also working with countries to negotiate a decrease in the number of PEFs in the Region.